I thank you all, our distinguished guests, who have taken time off on a working
day to be with us this morning. I salute the Chairman, Chief Chris Ezeh,
my publisher, Chief Joop Berkhout of Safari Books, my dear wife and siblings
and my staff.

This is not your typical book launch. We have tweaked the format, since
this is for me, purely a literary event; the presentation of a public policy
book, despite the evident political undertone. The timing of the release
of the book is also coincidental, even if considered propitious by some.

In Prime Witness, I have rendered an account on the first two
years of President Buhari's administration and his presidency as I
witnessed and assessed them. The book addresses policy making as it
relates to governance and politics, foreign policy, security concerns,
constitutional questions, economic and fiscal policies, and the change mantra.
Specifically it interrogates topical issues including corruption, herdsmen
conflict, gender, budgetary matters, and value of the Naira, restructuring and
fiscal bailouts and oil subsidy. In all, it assesses how well Buhari as an
Executive President has delivered on his change promise.

I have undertaken this task, because of my
firm conviction that it is our task and duty as citizens to find solutions and
to speak truth to power. Public policy discussion is too important to left only
to elected or appointed policy makers. The contribution of an informed
citizenry to public policy making is the hallmark of a well-functioning
democracy. For the record, upon the publication of this book, I availed the
Presidency a copy. It is now for the readers, students, analysts and posterity
to judge.

The present day security, governance
and political challenges, compel one to ask whether Nigerians still have faith
in Nigeria and the incumbent leadership. As I've said elsewhere, our dear
country is extremely challenged. From where I stand, the present
realities and optics of Nigerian politics are not comforting. The
forthcoming general elections will only exacerbate the challenges and conflicts
confronting Nigeria relative to our retarded governance and developmental
standards.

Though the attendees have heard the magisterial
book review rendered by Prof. B.A.C. Obiefuna, and other remarks, and read the
preview in the programme, the crux of its validity rests on views and questions
posed by my dear friend, and public policy colleague, Ambassador Eloho Otobo,
who wrote the foreword. His words:

"Effective political leadership is generally perceived as one that
delivers on its promises. Statesmanship, on the other hand, entails employing great tact in steering the
affair of state and in better management of unanticipated crisis that other
leaders would have in similar circumstances. The collection of articles
in this Book turns critically on three questions: Has the Buhari administration
delivered on what it promised during the electoral campaign? Has Buhari
demonstrated the qualities of responsive and responsible leadership? And has he
displayed the necessary statesmanship in the governance of National
affairs?"

These are heady and critical national
interest questions. But there are more questions being asked by Nigerians
everyday; "How's your President doing today"? Or "How is
your choice for change doing?" I will leave it to the readers to
answer, and decide if each of the three questions were fully answered or if in
deference to diplomacy and political correctness this author was "too
charitable" in his assessment.

The Buhari government, which was
popularly elected, has many ardent supporters, some are closet supporters.
Yet, many claim that those of them who "supported Buhari, and
voted for him in 2015, are now totally disillusioned and ashamed that events
have exposed their naivety." Their concern is that they have
become the butt of the joke, at the mercy of their mockers
especially, the so-called five-percenters who supposedly knew better and thus
voted otherwise.

Conventional wisdom informs that any book assessing evolving policy and
politics often become obsolete from the date of its publication. If so, the state
of affairs in Nigeria today and the way things have evolved - for good or
bad - since 2015 under Buhari, may have rendered this book obsolete.

Yet the redeeming value of Prime Witness is that Nigeria's
posterity and mankind will have a record of what transpired. Indeed, the
Buhari presidency, have some lessons to learn from past mistakes and missed
opportunities. The Presidency will glean from this book, even if belatedly,
some of the change and policy challenges confronting the Buhari
presidency, even as I speak. Prime Witness will also serve as
a tool for assessing the strength of government.

As Nigerians we cannot shy away from confronting our failings, or celebrating
our successes. We must also tackle heady questions. So, given what we
know, I have severally been asked, "How does it make you feel
when it is said that Buhari intends to stand for re-election for another term
of four years come 2019?" My response is that
the beauty of democracy, including ours, is the guarantee of periodic,
genuine and credible elections. We witnessed that in 2015 elections - a
historical landmark. President Buhari was elected then because he was a
plausible and credible alternative. As I surmised in the closing chapter of
this book, President Buhari “is a Nigerian and fate has thrust him into
Nigeria’s leadership position; not once but twice. How he will fare eventually
and be considered by posterity is best left to historians.”

Yet I must acknowledge the increasing
expressed opposing view; “that Buhari represents every vice which
militates against good governance in Nigeria; tribalism, nepotism, impunity,
corruption, religious bigotry and hubris." Furthermore, as
Nigeria heads into 2019 elections, there are Nigerians who firmly believe that
"removing Buhari from power is the first step towards
positive restructuring of Nigeria." Public expressions of
such divergent views reflect the growing strength of our democracy. For
my part, I will vote my conscience as will each man and woman. In the end, the
Nigerian voters must make a choice. And they will live with the consequences of
their individual choice at the polls.

In closing, let me emphasize that Prime Witness, remains essentially an
academic work aimed at bettering our understanding of the nexus between public
policy and purposeful leadership and good governance. Inevitably, its
publication cannot ignore Nigeria's realpolitik. That is an inescapable
reality.

I thank you.

Realities and Optics of Nigerian Politics are not Comforting.....Oseloka H. Obaze
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, May 02, 2018
Rating: 5